Bay Photos by Donna

I have a new passion for Cedar Waxwings.  Before the last few months, I’d only seen a small flock of a dozen or so at most, not often either.

Cedar Waxwings

I’ve now become accustomed to seeing them daily, early in the morning from my yard, so love it!

Cedar Waxwings

Past couple weeks, they’ve been traveling in larger flocks as they do in the fall/winter months.

Flock of Cedar Waxwings

The Cedar Waxwing’s tail tip is a bright yellow.  It’s possible to see some with orange/red tail tips.  This occurs from the bird’s diet.  They love honeysuckle berries, and it’s been found that the imported invasive Morrow’s Honeysuckle’s berries contains red as well as the normal yellow honeysuckle pigment.  If a Cedar Waxwing happens to eat enough of Morrow’s Honeysuckle berries at the time of feather formation (they molt between August and January), its tail feathers will have orange/red tips instead of the usual yellow.

I ‘ve seen orange/red tail tipped Cedar Waxwings.  Next, is a not-so-great shot of two Cedar Waxwings showing the tips of their tail orange/red.

Cedar Waxwings (top left, top right) have orange/red tail tips

One more photo of these gorgeous birds….

Cedar Waxwings